Behind the Book with Nina Crespo – Entangled In Romance

We’re Moving On…

The past holds something for all of us. Memories can show up in a funny story you share with a friend or in a moment of nostalgia fueled by a pleasant scent, a phrase, a photo or too much alcohol. Making bread using my mother’s recipe always reminds me of Thanksgiving and Christmas. A souvenir T-shirt from a comedy show is one of my prized possessions because the date I met my husband is printed on the back and it stirs up happy recollections. Shopping for a costume on Halloween always brings giggles as I remember that night working at the sports bar, years ago, wearing a slinky, black cat costume, and selling shooters, tooters, and witches tits out of the bed of a pickup truck mounted to the wall.

Drew and Tab in NAUGHTY LITTLE WISHES are opposites who can’t decide if they want to kiss or kill each other. What makes it even harder for them is their off-the-charts sexual chemistry. Once passion ignites, they can’t deny it. As they spend time together, they not only wrestle with their attraction, they’re also forced to confront hard memories from the past. I can relate. In my bag of recollections, there are memories that cause sudden twinges of heartache, guilt, and even tears. Writing Drew and Tab’s story gave me the opportunity to explore the not-so-pleasant side of memories in the only way I know how—with humor, honesty, and a dose of smart-assery.

When I had completed the journey with my characters, I was reminded of a few key things. No one is perfect. We don’t always make the right decisions, and emotions can lead to unlikely reactions in the heat of the moment. Wine can help us through it, but love and acceptance of what we didn’t know back then, or what we no longer have the power to change, are the strongest weapons and softest places to fall. They lead us to the one place that will allow us to start over, do better, own our space, live life to the fullest, and accept what we deserve—forgiveness.